WJEC teleological argument Flashcards
What was Plato’s version of the argument from design?
The universe, he proposes, is the product of rational, purposive, and beneficent agency. It is the handiwork of a divine Craftsman (The“Demiurge,” dêmiourgos, ), who imposes mathematical order on a preexistent chaos to generate the ordered universe (kosmos).
How did Aristotle argue from design?
Aristotle conceives “nature” as having order and intelligence, an integrated system, as if it were designed: If, therefore, artificial products are for the sake of an end, so clearly also are natural products”
How did Aquinas use the arrow analogy in his “fifth way”?
An arrow, which has no intelligence (knowledge) of its own, needs an archer to direct it on its course. So those things in nature which have no knowledge (planets, plants etc.) also need some intelligent being to direct them to fulfil their purpose.
How does Paley use the rock and watch analogy?
If you came across a rock, you could say it had lain there forever, but you could not say the same about a watch. You can see evidence of design in its interconnecting parts, even if you didn’t know its purpose. You would conclude that it had been designed for a purpose. There is much more evidence of design in nature.
Complete Paley’s quote “the marks of design ………”
The marks of design are too strong to be got over. Design must have had a designer.
What did Paley mean by “The contrivances of nature surpass the contrivances of art, in the complexity, subtlety, and curiosity of the mechanism”?
The workings of nature are far more complex and wonderful than any machine made by man.
What is the name of the person AND the name of the argument associated with human appreciation of beauty in the world?
F R Tennant and the Aesthetic argument
Summarise the aesthetic argument.
Appreciation of all forms of beauty does not appear to have a survival function, therefore one would think it should be rejected in evolutionary development. That it hasn’t been, is evidence that God wanted humans to enjoy living in the world.
Give three terms that are associated with the idea that the conditions in parts of the universe are just right for intelligent human life.
Anthropic Principle; Fine-tuning argument; Goldilocks Zone.
Summarise the anthropic principle
The chances of a universe providing the exact conditions necessary for human life are so tiny as to be highly improbable. The simplest conclusion is that it was the result of a deliberate decision by a divine designer.
How does the fine-tuning argument develop the anthropic principle.
It looks in detail at the event called the “big bang” and shows that if any variable had been just a tiny bit different in the first nano-seconds, there would either be nowhere in the universe to sustain life, or no universe at all.
What were Tennant’s 3 pieces of evidence to support
his anthropic principle?
P.28.
- The world provides the exact things we need to survive.
- The world can be observed, and holds itself up for rational analysis from which we can deduce its workings.
- The process of evolution through natural selection has led to the development of intelligent human life which can observe and analyse the universe it exists in.
Summarise Hume’s “Analogies” criticism.
The degree of similarity between the universe and a man made object is too small to make a valid analogy.
Summarise Hume’s “Experience” analogy.
Humans have no experience of how the universe was designed, so any analogy made with something we DO have experience of is invalid.
Summarise Hume’s “Organic Universe” criticism.
The universe is not static, like a man made machine (in Hume’s day). It behaves more like living organisms in the natural world, so can’t be easily compared to an artificial construction.
